[ubuntu-us-ma] possible meeting location

[Theresa Hepburn]

You make excellent points, consistency is important and it would 
definitely deter new people.

The Cambridgeside Galleria has free wifi in the food court and is close 
to the MIT campus where people are already comfortable going. It's not 
as great as having our own room but it could work
http://www.cambridgesidegalleria.com/info/services.cfm

I'm looking through the free wifi spots, maybe someone can find 
something better?
http://www.wififreespot.com/mass.html

Doc Kinne wrote:
> Folks:
> 
> Very new guy here, so just take my opinion with a metric ton of salt.  :-)
> 
> On 02 Apr , 2009, at 11:24, Theresa Hepburn wrote:
> 
>>
>> > At our last meeting we decided to investigate a few possibilities for
>> > a new meeting location.
>> ...
>> > * The Rate is $40/hr for nonprofit groups. For 4+hours, $30/hr. 50%
>> > deposit to make a reservation.
>>
>> This is crazy! We shouldn't have to pay to all meet together! Why 
>> don't we hold meetings at different member's houses? I think that 
>> would be a positive experience for a couple reasons:
> 
> While Theresa hits some good reasons and points, I have to say with my 
> experience as a meeting coordinator that meeting in peoples homes is, in 
> general, a VERY bad idea.
> 
> 1) People like a stable meeting place. They know where the meeting place 
> is and don't have to continually find next months meeting place as it 
> rotates between people's homes. Not having a stable meeting place in 
> general is a recipe for having meeting attendance plunge.
> 
> 2) New people appreciate not only a stable meeting place, but a public 
> meeting place.
> 
> 3) A public meeting place gives a more professional and stable 
> impression of the group.
> 
>> I know there are a lot of people in the Boston area without cars but 
>> the commuter rail reaches all the way to Worcester and Providence,RI. 
>> I don't think it'll be an issue to have someone pick people up from a 
>> commuter rail stop to get to meetings.
> 
> While the commuter rail does reach into some interesting, far-flung 
> areas, due to its schedule it is probably not a stable way of getting to 
> meetings in the evenings. The fare on the commuter rail itself, 
> depending on the distance, would be about half the meeting cost per 
> person, round trip. Getting to from point A to point B via the T 
> (including buses) is, in general 45 minutes to an hour. You need to 
> double those times with the commuter rail.
> 
> Again, please take with a metric ton of salt, but these are the issues I 
> see.
> 
> ---
> 
> Richard "Doc" Kinne • Rikardo «Dokĉjo» KINNE, BA, MSc., AMAAS
> 
> <kinnerc @ gmail.com> 
> 
> "I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look 
> me up!"
> 
> - The Doctor
> 
> "Forests of the Dead," /Doctor Who/
> 
> 
> 
>